<p class="title rtejustify">Popular social news website Reddit on Thursday was warning users that a hacker broke into its systems, intercepting some employee text messages to get past defences.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">Reddit didn't disclose the extent of the hack, saying it was conducting a "painstaking" investigation to determine what was accessed and to harden security.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">"Although this was a serious attack, the attacker did not gain write access to Reddit systems," Reddit said in an online post.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">"They gained read-only access to some systems that contained backup data, source code and other logs."</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">In essence, the hacker could look at data but not change anything.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">Information accessed included some current email addresses and a 2007 user database containing old passwords that were scrambled, according to Reddit, which was founded in 2005.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">Reddit determined that a hacker compromised some employee accounts with cloud and source-code providers.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">Reddit heightens computer security with "two-factor authentication" that requires passwords to be accompanied by temporary codes sent via text messages, but the cyber-attack involved "SMS intercept" of texted codes, according to the company.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">"As website breaches go, this one doesn't seem too severe," cyber-security specialist Brian Krebs said in a post on his Krebs on Security website.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">"What's interesting about the incident is that it showcases once again why relying on mobile text messages (SMS) for two-factor authentication (2FA) can lull companies and end users into a false sense of security."</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">The old database accessed in the hack held backup copies of Reddit user data from its first two years in operation.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">Also, accessed email digests from a few weeks in June, according to Reddit.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">Reddit was co-founded by Alexis Ohanian, husband of tennis superstar Serena Williams. Reddit is ranked among the most visited US websites and has more than 138,000 "communities" for discussions on various topics.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">Reddit is also known for ask-me-anything (AMA) sessions with well-known people such as Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and former US president Barack Obama.</p>
<p class="title rtejustify">Popular social news website Reddit on Thursday was warning users that a hacker broke into its systems, intercepting some employee text messages to get past defences.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">Reddit didn't disclose the extent of the hack, saying it was conducting a "painstaking" investigation to determine what was accessed and to harden security.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">"Although this was a serious attack, the attacker did not gain write access to Reddit systems," Reddit said in an online post.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">"They gained read-only access to some systems that contained backup data, source code and other logs."</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">In essence, the hacker could look at data but not change anything.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">Information accessed included some current email addresses and a 2007 user database containing old passwords that were scrambled, according to Reddit, which was founded in 2005.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">Reddit determined that a hacker compromised some employee accounts with cloud and source-code providers.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">Reddit heightens computer security with "two-factor authentication" that requires passwords to be accompanied by temporary codes sent via text messages, but the cyber-attack involved "SMS intercept" of texted codes, according to the company.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">"As website breaches go, this one doesn't seem too severe," cyber-security specialist Brian Krebs said in a post on his Krebs on Security website.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">"What's interesting about the incident is that it showcases once again why relying on mobile text messages (SMS) for two-factor authentication (2FA) can lull companies and end users into a false sense of security."</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">The old database accessed in the hack held backup copies of Reddit user data from its first two years in operation.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">Also, accessed email digests from a few weeks in June, according to Reddit.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">Reddit was co-founded by Alexis Ohanian, husband of tennis superstar Serena Williams. Reddit is ranked among the most visited US websites and has more than 138,000 "communities" for discussions on various topics.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">Reddit is also known for ask-me-anything (AMA) sessions with well-known people such as Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and former US president Barack Obama.</p>